Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Boeing Under Scrutiny After Another Plane Crash In Ethiopia; President Trump To Release Budget Proposal; Fox News Rebukes Host Jeanine Pirro; U.S.-Backed Syrian Fighters Target ISIS In Baghouz. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired March 11, 2016 - 05:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:30:36] JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Two plane crashes in five months. Now, some big questions for Boeing over a new model jet many Americans fly. We're live at the site of the latest crash in Ethiopia.

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN ANCHOR: Declare a national emergency, spend billions, and get Congress to pay for it. That's just a part of the president's new budget setting up a new battle over the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANINE PIRRO, HOST, FOX NEWS "JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE": Omar wears a hijab. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And a rare rebuke of one of its own stars. Fox News now condemning Jeanine Pirro. She questioned whether a congresswoman's religious beliefs oppose the Constitution.

BRIGGS: And a soccer fan in England runs onto the field and sucker punches a player in the head. Wait until you see how that player responded. That is frightening. Something needs to be done to prevent it from happening again.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs.

DEAN: Hi, everyone.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

DEAN: I'm Jessica Dean. It is 31 minutes past the hour.

Boeing is facing serious safety questions following the second crash of a new 737 in the last five months. All 157 people on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi died Sunday morning when their plane went down shortly after takeoff. The pilot had reported technical difficulties. One hundred eighty-nine lives were also lost when a Lion Air flight

crashed in late October. Both of these flights involved brand new Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes.

BRIGGS: There is no evidence the two incidents are linked but if one issue caused both disasters Boeing might have to quickly modify its planes. American and Southwest Airlines operate dozens of them and in the United States.

This morning, China's Civil Aviation Authority has suspended all domestic flights using the MAX 8. Boeing now delaying its plans to unveil its huge new 777X jetliner this week.

DEAN: In Sunday's Ethiopian Airlines crash eight Americans were among the 157 people killed, and 19 of the dead were United Nations staff members.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEWOLDE GEBREMARIAM, CEO, ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES: We don't know the cause of the accident. We will -- we will comply with all the international regulations. As an airline, we'll be fully supporting and cooperating with the investigation until we know the exact cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Robyn Kriel joining us live from the crash site in Ethiopia with the latest developments -- Robyn.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, as you can see, there is a pile of green -- lime green debris behind me. That is the color of Ethiopian Airlines. The motto of their airline is the "Spirit of Africa."

And I think what makes this scene even more devastating and sad is that Ethiopia is really going through a resurgence of spirit. It is opening up, in terms of its democracy, to have a new president -- a new prime minister that is making immense changes and a blow to the national airlines -- something that is of massive national pride to Ethiopians and to the nation as a whole, it makes it -- it compounds the issue even further.

A number of people we've spoken to here have apologized. They just apologized to us because they think we're foreign. They say that they're sorry for what happened even though they, themselves, lost a number of Ethiopians on that flight.

Other people from Kenya were on that flight. As you mentioned, people from the United Nations, humanitarians, translators, professors, lawyers. An amazing array of folk that really speaks to the heart of operating in this region.

They were flying -- many of them -- for business to help with the environment -- to help with the U.N. environmental conference. They were flying to Nairobi. There's a lot of tough countries in this region that people would be serving in, such as Somalia, South Sudan -- countries with major issues.

And, of course, just a devastating scene here with 157 people killed in that plane crash -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, devastating, indeed, Robyn. Thanks so much.

BRIGGS: All right, to politics now where President Trump will deliver a budget proposal this morning, his first under divided government. He's promising to balance the federal budget in 15 years.

He wants a five percent spending cut for all non-defense agencies, including education, health, the environment, foreign aid. It's a plan that lawmakers will likely ignore as the nation's debt reaches record heights.

[05:35:02] DEAN: Near the top of the president's agenda, a White House official has confirmed he will seek $8.6 billion for a border wall. The budget proposal has an additional $3.6 billion in military construction funds to pay back the money Trump redirected using his executive authority.

Democratic leaders say they hope the president learned his lesson from the recent shutdown.

It seemed like the 2020 Democratic hopefuls were everywhere at South by Southwest in Austin this weekend.

At last night's CNN town hall, South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg called for generational change in America. At 37, he's the youngest candidate in the race and he had harsh words for his fellow Hoosier, Vice President Mike Pence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ANCHOR, "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER": Vice President Pence would be a better or worse president than President Trump?

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MAYOR, SOUTH BEND, INDIANA: Oh, um, does it have to be between --

TAPPER: Politics is about choices, man. You know that.

BUTTIGIEG: I mean, I don't know, it' really strange because I used to at least believe that he believed in our -- I disagreed with him ferociously on these things but I thought well, at least he believes in our institutions and he's not personally corrupt.

How could he allow himself to become the cheerleader of the porn star presidency? Is it that he -- is it that he stopped believing in scripture when he started believing in Donald Trump?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Wow, all right. In the town hall last night, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii focused on foreign policy, but the Iraq war vet would not say whether she believed Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad is a war criminal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TULSI GABBARD (D-HI), 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think that the evidence needs to be gathered. And as I have said before, if there is evidence that he has committed war crimes, he should be prosecuted as such.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But you're not sure now?

GABBARD: Everything that I have said requires that we take action based on evidence. If the evidence is there, there should be accountability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: For the record, evidence has been gathered and the U.N. has concluded Assad was behind an April 2017 chemical weapons attack. That is an easy one for Tulsi Gabbard -- an easy one that she did not deliver on.

DEAN: Well, joining us here now, Princeton University historian and professor, Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst. Julian, good morning.

BRIGGS: Good morning.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, CO-AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1974": Good morning.

DEAN: Thanks so much for behind here.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

DEAN: I want to get to 2020 in just a second, but let's start first with this budget that's been proposed. President Trump going back to the well on this and --

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEAN: -- $8.6 billion for a wall, doubling down on that. And drastic cuts to domestic spending.

What can be read into this budget proposal?

ZELIZER: Well, he's doubling down on the issue he believes is a key issue for his campaign. He's going to force the discussion about the wall.

Now, Republicans are going to have to deal with it again. And now, it's going to be framed as Republicans want the money for the wall instead of the domestic programs that many Americans count on. So there's a lot for Democrats to play with on this.

BRIGGS: And let's point out Republicans did not give him the money for this wall. The Paul Ryan Republican-controlled House did not give him his wall. It will be interesting how they play that narrative.

But also this week will be a vote on the president's national emergency regarding that wall and four Republicans have stepped up and said they will vote with Democrats to block the emergency. I don't know that four even matters.

If this vote is any short of, say, 10 Republicans, how consequential is it for the party and for the next couple of years?

ZELIZER: Well, so much for principle. They won't be able to claim they're against executive power when it's invoked against something they care about.

But at this point, I don't think the Republicans care so much. They are focused on winning the election. They're focused on generally supporting the president and this is a symbolic vote to say well, a few Republicans oppose it. But in the end, he gets what he wants.

BRIGGS: Right, those are the four that have pledged. I just -- frankly, in my opinion, it would be stunning if Mitt Romney --

ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- if Ben Sasse, if Mike Lee, if Lamar Alexander did not join the Democrats and step up and say here's a line you cannot cross. But we'll see probably by Wednesday.

DEAN: But to that point, all eyes on 2020 --

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEAN: -- and everybody really trying to circle the wagons, in effect, to get this president reelected.

We are getting a new poll -- CNN-Des Moines Register poll out of Iowa that's taking a look at the Democratic contenders.

And there are the numbers right there. You see Joe Biden at the top with 27 percent, followed by Bernie Sanders at 25. And then, everybody else in single digits if they even registered on there.

Look, it's super early. We all know this.

ZELIZER: Yes.

DEAN: How much is name I.D. playing into all of this?

ZELIZER: Huge. The two frontrunners --

DEAN: Right.

ZELIZER: -- are the people everyone is familiar with and the others are less known unless you follow politics all the time.

I saw it in 2015 around this time. Scott Walker was leading --

DEAN: Yes.

BRIGGS: Yes.

ZELIZER: -- in the Iowa poll for the Republicans. In 2008, Hillary Clinton had a very solid lead and obviously, you know, Barack Obama wasn't on the radar. So we have to take these as a poll of where things are right now.

[05:40:10] The only interesting thing is that Sanders is doing well --

DEAN: Yes.

ZELIZER: -- so it does indicate his support was not ephemeral --

DEAN: Right.

ZELIZER: -- four years ago and there's something there to his campaign, but that's it.

BRIGGS: And if the 77-year-old does extraordinarily well with young people --

ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- that's an interesting takeaway.

And yes, to your point, I mean, Rudy Giuliani, at one point at this time --

ZELIZER: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- was leading for the Republicans.

I want to ask you about the issues because Republicans and the president would like it to be about socialism. That the left wants to go with socialism.

And, Democrats are oddly having a hard time talking about capitalism.

Here is John Hickenlooper, former Colorado governor and businessman -- a man who's made millions opening microbreweries and restaurants -- struggling to answer questions about what made him who he is -- capitalism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET BRENNAN, MODERATOR, CBS "FACE THE NATION": Why are you uncomfortable calling yourself a proud capitalist?

GOV. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D), COLORADO: Well, I didn't -- the point I was making is that we define people by these labels that often have all kinds of associations and baggage with them in that sense.

Do I believe in small business? Of course, I believe in small business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: OK. He was only elected mayor of Denver and governor of Colorado because of really what he did as a capitalist.

Why is he struggling to answer that question?

ZELIZER: He --

BRIGGS: Isn't this an easy one?

ZELIZER: There should be a political layout for all the candidates -- all of them -- and then they should just say yes, we are for capitalism, but a humane kind of capitalism. And then, get to the issues that matter to them.

I'm not sure why he's struggling. I think they're all trying to figure out what's the electoral landscape. But I think reading into this that that's the kind of answer to give is a big mistake.

DEAN: Right. And just how far left does the electorate want them to go, right? How do you get out of the primary?

ZELIZER: Yes, and they're not as far left as the president is painting them. I really think that's an exaggeration. But they're going to have to make the case because fair or not, the question is coming.

DEAN: All right.

BRIGGS: Go ahead.

DEAN: Well, I was -- I was going to say also, too, one more thing before we let you go.

We -- you know the president's Twitter feed obviously is generally pretty active. We've had this horrible Ethiopian Airways crash in which Americans died, but the president has not tweeted about that.

ZELIZER: Yes.

DEAN: And --

BRIGGS: He spent a lot of time tweeting about Hillary Clinton, and Fusion GPS, and things of that nature --

DEAN: Yes.

BRIGGS: -- so he hasn't been off of social media.

DEAN: Do you think -- is that a fair criticism of the president to say look, you've been on social media. You've been talking about these theories about --

BRIGGS: Yes.

DEAN: -- Hillary Clinton and e-mails and all, but Americans are dead in Ethiopia. And it does harken back to when he made those comments about "blank-hole" countries.

ZELIZER: Look, I don't know what motivates him but it's totally fair. This is his bully pulpit and the issues he focuses on are the issues he cares about. So it's fine to ask when this tragedy happened why isn't this on the top of his mind.

And it's not as if he's doing something else. He's sitting there tweeting --

DEAN: Yes.

ZELIZER: -- or someone's tweeting for him. But that wasn't one of the stories that really moved him. He was much more interested in his traditional fights --

DEAN: Right.

ZELIZER: -- and that says a lot about his priorities and what moves him.

BRIGGS: All right. Julian Zelizer, great to have you here.

DEAN: Thanks.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

BRIGGS: Thank you.

Another thing the president loves to tweet about is Jeanine Pirro. And speaking of, Fox News condemning remarks from that very host.

Jeanine Pirro, Saturday, questioned whether Congressman (sic) Ilhan Omar's religious beliefs run counter to the U.S. Constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIRRO: Think about it. Omar wears a hijab, which according to the Quran 33:59 tells women to cover so they won't get molested. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to the Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Pirro's comments came at the end of a week of controversy for Rep. Omar following a suggestion that Jewish money is behind congressional support for Israel. But, Fox says Pirro went too far.

DEAN: The network said in a statement, quote, "We strongly condemn Jeanine Pirro's comments about Rep. Ilhan Omar. They do not reflect those of the network and we have addressed the matter with her directly."

Now, Pirro, herself, did not quite apologize. She did offer this explanation, though. She said, "I did not call Rep. Omar un-American. My intention was to ask a question and start a debate. But, of course, because one is Muslim does not mean you don't support the Constitution."

BRIGGS: The controversy around Omar cast a cloud over Democrats all week. A resolution against hate started out focusing narrowly on anti-Semitism. It was gradually broadened all week to include groups across the racial, ethnic, and religious spectrum.

[05:45:00] DEAN: ISIS, as a territory, is on its last legs. The final push to wipe out the terror group's last enclave in Syria is underway and we are live in Eastern Syria. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: The final push is underway to wipe out the last ISIS enclave in Syria. Right now, a fierce assault by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces is underway in the village of Baghouz.

CNN is the only U.S. network to witness what could be the final assault on ISIS in Eastern Syria. Our senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman is live in Eastern Syria. Hi, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jessica.

Well, at the moment, it is relatively quiet. We've had occasional air strikes, occasional artillery or mortar rounds going into this encampment behind me. It's just about a half-square mile. But overnight, we saw some very intense gunfire and air strikes on that small camp behind me.

[05:50:09] Despite all of that, what we're able to see through our telephoto lens is that there are still people walking around. They might not be available -- visible now. We did see them earlier.

But you can see the black banner of ISIS waving in the wind amidst the smoke -- amid the ruins. And what we're really seeing behind us is there are some tents and a lot of wrecked cars.

We were able, actually, to get very close to the edge of one of those encampments and found that inside each tent they've dug trenches about a yard -- a yard and a half deep to try to get some sort of protection from the air strikes and the bombardment.

But it's important to note that this is the third time in the last month that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have tried to retake. This is a very small piece of land.

But every time they've gone in, they've fought for about two to three days and then called a halt to allow civilians to come out. A month ago they were telling us 1,500 people inside -- maybe 500 fighters. It turns out the real number was more like 30,000 civilians and thousands of fighters.

So this is, as I said, the third attempt to take it but it may not be the last -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Ben. Stay safe. Thanks so much for that update.

BRIGGS: All right, 5:51.

A check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Global markets are mixed amid growing concerns over global growth. Asian markets closed higher. European markets opened higher as trading begin there.

On Wall Street, futures are mixed. The Dow pointing 125 points lower.

Stocks staged a late-day rally Friday but still fell for the fifth straight day after that surprisingly low jobs report. The economy added just 20,000 jobs in February. That's the fewest jobs gained since September 2017. Economists had expected the economy to add more than 180,000 jobs.

The Dow fell 23 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 each fell slightly.

Disney's Marvel Studio's latest superhero flick was unstoppable in its worldwide box office debut this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "CAPTAIN MARVEL": Superior:

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Superior it was.

"Captain Marvel" made an estimated $455 million globally opening weekend. The film starring Brie Larson brought in an estimated $153 million in North America. It's the first Marvel film to be directed by a woman and the first to feature a female superhero in the lead.

"Captain Marvel", herself, stopped by some theaters over the weekend, surprising some viewers there and serving up some popcorn in another occasion.

It's the 21st film from that series. Every Marvel movie has come in at number one in the North American box office in its opening weekend.

I saw it Friday. It is fantastic. Are you a Marvel --

DEAN: Yes. I mean, yes, I'll go see it -- yes, yes. I didn't go Friday.

BRIGGS: But you haven't seen the whole --

DEAN: No, I haven't seen all 20.

BRIGGS: -- the previous 20?

DEAN: No, 21.

BRIGGS: You've got to get involved. You've got to get in.

DEAN: I know. I've got some homework to do.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:57:28] BRIGGS: Julia Ruth Stevens, the last surviving daughter of baseball legend Babe Ruth, has died. She passed away in an assisted living facility in Nevada after a short illness. She was 102.

Steven's son says fans loved to chat with his mom about the Babe because she lived so long she was the only one who could really do it.

Julia Ruth Stevens is also survived by her two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

DEAN: A woman is recovering this morning after an encounter with a jaguar at a zoo in Arizona. It happened Saturday at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix.

Witnesses say she crossed over a barrier between the public and the animal's enclosure to take a selfie. The female jaguar reacted, reaching out and grabbing the woman's arm. The injuries were non- life-threatening.

Zoo officials say there were proper barriers in place and it's not a wild animal's fault when those barriers are crossed. They say the jaguar will not be put down.

BRIGGS: And speaking of stupid humans, a soccer fan in England running onto the field and punching a player in the head. It happened during a match between Aston Villa and rival Birmingham City.

You can see the fan run toward Jack Grealish there and sucker punch him from behind. The fan was arrested.

Grealish, though, got the last laugh. He scored the winning goal for Aston Villa and later leapt into the stands to celebrate.

Following the match, Birmingham City said the fan who attacked Grealish has been barred for life.

DEAN: Well, thanks so much for joining us, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean.

BRIGGS: I'm Dave Briggs. Good to have you here.

DEAN: Thanks.

BRIGGS: Here's "NEW DAY". We'll see you tomorrow. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw a message that said an Ethiopian Airlines airplane has crashed. I found out that nearly everybody had passed away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a real sense of shock. The feeling of tragedy is palpable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't think of another case where a brand new aircraft had two major incidents with multiple fatalities. It is highly unusual.

LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We have a crisis down there. The president has made that case very effectively.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doubling down is dangerous. This could shut the government again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are budget requests. It's his way of saying I'm really doing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, March 11th, 6:00 here in New York.

And we do begin with breaking news. Serious new air safety concerns this morning. For the second time in five months, a brand new plane crashes just after takeoff in near perfect weather, and it's the exact same type of aircraft.

This morning, Boeing is facing intense scrutiny.

END